Motor vehicle lunch tray support



May 11, 1954 P. R. RHOADS MOTOR VEHICLE LUNCH TRAY SUPPORT 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 14, 1952 J fi Q @Yw fiflv M w w ww U WM M w wvw a WNW y M INVETOR. Pail/1?, fiaaaffij,

ATTEI RN EYE May 11, 1954 P. R. RHOADS 2,678,249

MOTOR VEHICLE LUNCH TRAY SUPPORT Filed Feb. 14, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 2 I i I I I IN VEN TOR.

ATTD R N EYS 1, 1954 P. R. RHOADS 2,678,249

MOTOR VEHICLE LUNCH TRAY SUPPORT Filed Feb. 14, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. av 59 PazzZ/iflfi d ATTIJ RN EYE Patented May 11, 1954 z+1 invention relates to' ideviclesifor supportingfilunchttrayswand'ithe -in motor -vehicles, and in particular a. lunoh itray carriednib spring rods pivotally mounted on 'the' inner-surtaces of tdoorepo'sts;oftamotor vehiclebody and positioned 1 -,.whereby-;af=luneh tray is resiliently fiheldsagainst 1 the pelling of the vehicle sand -may-=bedrawn iiownttaardly {manuallyta -.-a -'-position up'err'{the back of a seat for use.

nieans formounting a l-nneh-v traysimambtorwehicle whereby the tray is suspended in aniout of the way position when not in -use.

fl/Iariousitypes of supports? haveiabeen eprovided forholdin'g lunehitrays irr motorvehicles,ahowby may be drawn downwardly to a position of The ob jct of this invention is, therefore, to ;\provi;d e' means for form'i tra 1$1- not er;- obj'ectof' the in v a spring actuated lunch tr upport for retaining a tray against-the underlsur'face of the roof ac}; of a seat-thereof of a vehicle against the under surface of the cot or upon the back of a seat thereof.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a pair of spring arms pivotally mounted with bearing elements upon posts between the doors of a motor vehicle body with extended ends of the arms pivotally attached to a hinged tray and wherein the arms are provided with turnbuckles to provide means for adjusting the length thereof to compensate for vehicles of different sizes.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

12 9 is st tew d support for lunch @tr'ay positiened upon the-* back' of a seatz-rof vehicle;

taken=on' 1ine:5 #5 of 'Eigzxiitalsoshowin positione zagainst the under surface; of-gthewirobf 0f the vehicle "Figures 15 -.a wmss section throu'gh motor ve'hicle'-- bddy taken on 1 line 11-4 terriers ri t the trating -the lunch tray su'ppbrtingarms with Figure 2 is ca similar" sectionu-showin atheliupper part of the vehicle body and with -the uneh tray ithe positionaof-ibeing moved upward]. a position of rest -against" the v-un'd'er surf v:the roof; of the vehicle.

to F401 Figure 3 i is -a vsimilar section? showingath tray and --tne spring supporting amis=:therefor with the parts positioned .against the roof-. of -the ae- *hicle. iFigure a-iristai-longitudinal seetiomgthreugh the vehicle bodylshowing LtheatraysuppQrtmg lements on one.=sidei of the "vehicle-ibo'dygwith the -tra: positioned against the: under ,sui faceibf the .roof I of the vehicle'iin' =fu-1l '-linesqandi positioned upon-:the *back iofwsa seatzaof-ea vehicle'iin'i dotted fines.

' Figure 5 use sectional wiew iookingtupwardly 'etray Figure 'fi is: a detaileshowi-ngrthe "longitudinal section? through the-rgtray-ewithtliemart shown "on can" enlarged scale and LWith etherspring sarn s broken-away.

Figure- 7 is? a plan view "of 'a-the i'tray JSIIQWnZ-"in Fig-s6 also showingthe spring arms-:brokemflway.

Figure :8 s is i=a --.cross'; section tthrough the stray 4 taken on i line 2848' of iFigZ 26.

Figure :9 is -a..detai-lsimilar to that-shown Figure-r140 lan view ofsthegtrayhamin -in Figure 11* is a -rsectionalsview,-isimilare to sthat --sho'w-n in Figi :3,zshowingstheiposition eofi that tray of the modification shown in Figs. 9 and 10 against the under surface of the roof or car top, the said car top being shown in dash lines.

Figure 12 is a cross section through one side of the tray taken on line l2l2 of Fig. 10 and illustrating the position of the guard rail in relation to the tray.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the improved lunch tray and spring supports therefor of this invention includes a tray having a base section ID with a folding section II secured. to one end thereof with a hinge l2, spring supporting rods or arms formed with sections l3 and I4 which are pivotally mounted in bearings 5 and I6, respectively, on posts I1 and I8, and L-shaped sections l9 and 20 which are connected to the sections l3 and I4 with turnbuckles 2| and 22 and which are pivotally connected to the sides of the base ll] of the tray with bearings 23 and 24.

The base is provided with a U-shaped frame 25 on the sides of which the bearings 23 and24 are mounted and the folding section of the tray, as indicated by the numeral H is movably mounted in the frame 25, the section II having end portions which are connected to the portions of the hinge l2. The corners of the frame 25 are provided with gusset plates 26 and 21 and similar gusset plates 28 are provided on the under surface of the frame 26. These plates reinforce the frame and provide retaining means for supporting the tray elements.

The sections l3 and M of the spring rods or supports are also provided with L-shaped ends,

that are pivotally held in the bearings l and ..,|6, and the bearings I5 and IB are pivotally mounted in brackets 29 and 30. The brackets are secured to the sidesof the posts I! and 8 with bolts 33 and 34.

With the parts assembled in this manner and .with the tray and spring actuated supporting arms pivotally mounted in the upper part of a. motor vehicle body the tray may be tilted and moved upwardly as illustrated in Fig. 2,. and also in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 and 1 of a seat36 in a motor vehicle car body as indicatedby the numeral 31.

With the parts of the-tray hinged, it may be positioned on one side of the center or so that it will,clear the dome-light which is indicated by the numeral 38.

.-clamped over the ends of sections 43 and 44,

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 a continuous tray 48 is secured in the ends of brackets 4| and 42 and the brackets are similar to the sections I9 and 20 with screws, .as indicated by the numeral 45 or other means.

As illustrated in Fig. 9 the brackets 4| and 42 are provided with eyes 46 and 41, respectively,

in which the frame members of the tray 49 are held. From the eyes 46 and 4'! the ends 43 nand 49 of the brackets 4| and 42 extend substantially parallel to the parts 4| and 42 with sectio-ns thereof adjacent the eyes extended inwardly and secured to the brackets with bolts 59 shown in Fig. 9. From the sockets 52 and 63 the sections 48 and 49 of the brackets extend parallel to the brackets and are clamped over the sections 43 and 44 of the spring arms with the screws 45.

The tray of this design is particularly adapted for motor vehicles without dome lights or where the dome lights are offset in relation to the postsat the sides of the doors of the vehicle.

The sections 43 and 44 .replace the sections l9 and and form. extensions'of' the sections l3 and I4, which are pivotally mounted on the posts of the vehicle body, or on the inner surface of said body.

The spring arms are, therefore, adapted to support trays of different designs and it will be I appreciated that the trays may be located in different positions and attached to the spring arms by other suitable means.

Being resiliently held against the under sur- When it is desired to use the tray it is only necessary to draw the tray downwardly whereby it may be positioned onthe back of a seat, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and the tray is ready for use.

The tray is illustrated as being rectangular shaped in plan and it may be made of any other suitable shape.

What is claimed is:

In combination, in a vehicle including a front seat, a pair of spaced apart posts mounted on the sides of the vehicle within the vehicle, a tray mounted for movement into and out of engagement with the top of the front seat, a pair of spring supporting arms pivotally connected to said tray and to said posts, and means embodying turnbuckles for adjusting the length of said and 5| thereby providing sockets 52 and 53 in which the sides of a guard rail 54 are held, as

arms, the longitudinal axis of the varms being arranged at right angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 17, 1935 

